The majority of Australians of working age undertook some form of learning during the last year, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Almost all (89%) Australians aged 15 to 64 years undertook some form of learning in the last 12 months.

On the job training, or learning by books or the internet was undertaken by nearly all (84%) Australians of working age.

About one quarter (26%) participated in formal study at school, college, TAFE or university with slightly more (28%) taking courses that do not lead to a formal qualification.

People with a Bachelor degree or higher were most likely to be employed as professionals or managers and people without a non-school qualification were most likely to be employed as clerical and administrative workers or labourers.

The most common field of study in formal learning was management and commerce (26%) followed by society and culture (20%).

The ABS also found that women are more likely than men to posses a Bachelor degree, but men are more likely to have completed a Certificate III/IV.

Since 2001, the proportion of people with a tertiary qualification has increased by 13%.

The main reason people undertook work-related courses was that it was a requirement of their job. The health care and social assistance industry accounted for the majority of non-formal learning followed by the education and training industry.

Excluding the completion of school study, Australians of working age are more likely to have attained a Certificate III/IV (2.5 million) as their highest education qualification than any other educational qualification.

TAFE was the most popular institution for tertiary studies in the last 12 months, with over 300,000 students having completed study at TAFE compared with approximately 240,000 students at university.ACT residents are more likely to have completed a Bachelor degree or above (36%) than those persons in any other state or territory.

Further information is available in Education and Training Experience, Australia 2009 (cat. no. 6278.0) available for download from the ABS website,<www.abs.gov.au>.